Photo courtesy of Warren Lynam.

Information courtesy of Swimming Australia, Brighton Beach, Adelaide, South Australia.

20-year-old Nick Sloman took his winning ways from short-distance ocean swims and surf lifesaving competitions to the 2018 Australian 10 km Open Water Championship at Brighton Beach, Australia.

He did not hit any waves with his 1 hour 53 minute 5 second victory in the tranquil waters over Simon Huitenga and Hungary’s Mark Papp (1:53.08).

“It’s important to put yourself in the front of the pack and make sure that when you do go that you don’t hesitate because if you slow down again…the lactic acid will build and you want be able to pick up that pace again; once you go you go,” Sloman said during his post-race victory interview with Swimming Australia.

“Having a coach like JR (John Rodgers) is a dream; he has coached many Olympians so I’ve just got to learn from his experiences and be the best I can be. He’s a tough cookie sometimes but he’s soft hearted and he’s basically my granddad although my dad Lloyd is by far my biggest supporter.

I only do about 50-55 km a week, but it includes a lot of heart rate sets and probably the max set I do is 10 x 500m. I wouldn’t go over two hours in a training session and only about nine times a week. JR has been working with Dr. Bob Treffene to get the most out of my training and I’ve got limited time (in the pool) because of work and University.

I work full time in a Quantity Surveying Firm and that takes most of my time and I’ve also got to go to the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane which is a two-hour drive from where I train and that takes an afternoon away from training.

I basically train by myself but triathlon great Jan Frodeno has been a great influence; he’s at the elite of Kona and a former Olympic champion and he rubs all of that world championship experience off on me.

[My] surf background also really helps, especially right at the end when you have to change pace; it’s definitely a good stepping stone into open water; I focus on getting in front and breaking away to the side little bit because I don’t want anyone on my hip, that will slow you down.”

Top Open Male Results
1. Nick Sloman (20) 1:53:04.07

2. Simon Huitenga (29) 1:53:05.07
3. Mark Papp (24) 1:53:08.01
4. Ollie Signorini (21) 1:53:21.01
5. Zoltan Drigan (19) 1:53:21.06
6. Kai Edwards (19) 1:53:22.01
7. Lachlan Colquhoun (21) 1:53:22.06

8. Chris Deegan (21) 1:53:24.00
9. Jack Brazier (18) 1:53:27.00
10. Matthew Robinson (21) 1:53:28.03
11. Ethan Owens (21) 1:53:28.50
12. Joshua Attard (21) 1:53:30.03
13. Ryutaro Hata (17) 1:53:33.00
14. Matthew Scott (20) 1:53:36.03

15. Michael Sheil (29) 1:53:40.03
16. Yosuke Aoki (24) 1:56:07.07
17. Eric Hedlin (24) 1:56:14.03
18. Kaito Watanuki 1:56:52.03
19. Ray Winstanley (31) 2:01:32.03
20. Sebastian Priscott (17) 2:02:43.07
21. Will Gurr (19) 2:05:44.07
22. Giorgio Roman (33) 2:12:01.00

19U 10 km Top 3 Male Results
1. Bailey Armstrong 1:53.19
2. Nicholas Rollo 1:53.25
3. Cormac Guthrie 1:53.25

18U 10 km Top 3 Male Results
1. Reilly Kennedy 1:53.25
2. Riley Clout 1:54.13
3. Daniel Miller 2:00.55

17U 7.5 km Top 3 Male Results
1. Hayden Cotter 1:23.02
2. Jack Wilson and James Utley-Doer 1:25.56.01 (tie)

16U 7.5 km Top 3 Male Results
1. Willian Thorley 1:26.35
2. Tomas Kaposi 1:28.49
3. Flynn Mason 1:31.28

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